Woman found in Vail dumpster has ‘personality disorder,’ her therapist says

Linnea Hayda’s false reporting trial winding down

Linnea Hayda, left, and defense attorney Stacey Shobe argue that Hayda was in an abusive relationship when she was found in a dumpster in Vail. Hayda says her ex-husband attacked her and put her in there. Vail police say she lied, she did it to herself and tried to frame him.Randy Wyrick | randy@vaildaily.com

EAGLE — A Vail woman charged with throwing herself in a dumpster and trying to frame her ex-husband for it has borderline personality disorder, her therapist said Wednesday in court.

Jennifer Glynn is a licensed clinical social worker and said
she has been Linnea Hayda’s clinician for the past five years, meeting for
weekly sessions. Hayda has a history in her records of bipolar disorder, Glynn
said.

“She is diagnosed as having borderline personality disorder and post- traumatic stress disorder,” Glynn said Wednesday afternoon on the sixth day of testimony in the trial. Jury selection took two days.

PTSD is recurring flashbacks and panic attacks, Glynn said.
Hayda met that criteria because of her “significant trauma history” beginning
in her early childhood.

Borderline personality disorder is a pervasive and “non-curable personality pattern of intense fear of abandonment,” Glynn said. They’ll often want to get out of relationships or stay in bad relationships, Glynn testifed.

Hayda was found in a Vail dumpster in an early morning of
March 27, 2018. She claims her ex-husband abducted her from an Avon parking lot
after work, hit her, put a plastic garbage bag over her head and threw in a
dumpster about 200 yards from an apartment where her ex-husband was living with
their two children.

Vail police and prosecutors say none of that is true and have charged Hayda with false reporting, tampering with evidence and attempting to influence a public official.

Hayda’s part of the dumpster incident could stem from her rocky
relationship with her ex-husband, Glynn said.

Juror questions

Colorado is one of three states that allow jurors to ask
questions during trials. The questions are written and handed to a judge. The
jury in Hayda’s case has been especially inquisitive, peppering witnesses with
questions after the attorneys are finished.

A juror asked, “Is making self-serving accusations a characteristic of borderline personality disorder?”

“It can be,” Glynn said.

PTSD is not a criminal defense, Deputy District Attorney Johnny Lombardi said Wednesday.

“When someone diagnosed with PTSD violates the law, they should
be incarcerated. Correct?” Lombardi asked.

“Correct,” Glynn said.

The digital examination of Hayda’s phone found dozens of
internet searches for news stories related to the incident, Tim Rhodes, a
computer forensic technician and deputy with the Garfield County Sheriff’s
Office testified.

Hayda texted a woman named Felicia 33 times, Rhodes said.

Among the text messages was one in which Hayda wrote: “(Hayda’s ex-husband) did this to me and he’s walking free.”

Since MIRA launched on July 29, 2018, it has recorded 140 days of operation. A total of 2,812 people have received services or been connected to other resources through MIRA as it visited 40 neighborhoods in Eagle County.